From the Preface
Practicing engineers spend about half of their work time communicating, that is, asking,
listening, writing, speaking, and using visuals to convey ideas, information, and feelings from
one person to one or more others. There is some truth in the stereotypical image of engineers,
that is, too many engineers communicate poorly. That deficiency can be corrected with this
book's multi-modal approach-asking, listening, writing, speaking, and use of visuals (p xiii).
From Chapter 1 Introduction
Ideally, the medical profession provides medical care without doing harm and the legal
profession seeks justice within the law, while engineering as a profession strives to meet
society's physical and environmental needs while keeping public protection paramount. Effective
communication will help engineers fulfill their public-protection-is-paramount promise (p 3).
... don't wait for an invitation to write, speak, or in other ways gain communication experience
and make communication contributions. You probably won't live long enough to become a
proficient writer or speaker. All engineers start out as amateur communicators and some remain
so for their entire careers-amateurs rarely get invited. If you recognize and proactively act on
the communication opportunities all around you, some day you will be an invitee (p 18).
Famed football coach Vince Lombardi described [deliberate practice] this way: "Practice does not make
perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect." At his first meeting with the Green Bay Packers during the
1961 training camp, he held up a football and said, "Gentlemen, this is a football." He first stressed
understanding fundamentals and then focusing individual and team practice on ones where they were
the weakest (p 19).
My observation: Engineering attracts the brightest and most persistent young people who, with
high expectations and great support, will succeed. More specifically, they are poised to become
good to great communicators because of their:
- Intellectual gifts, persistence, and other admirable characteristics
- Ability to be inspired by and learn from exemplar engineer communicators (p 19)
From Chapter 2 Asking and Listening
As illogical as it may seem, too many engineers fear that asking questions will cause others to
view them as not being knowledgeable or ready. Asking questions does not indicate you are
uninformed or poorly prepared. It should mean just the opposite, that is, because you are well
informed and thoroughly prepared, you know what to ask. The type and number of questions you
ask reveal your expertise-and your care (p 28).
When answering questions, we need to trim our hedges which means "the ability to speak, write, and
answer questions in a positive manner, to present our views without excessive qualifications, so the
information is presented at a level appropriate for our intended audience" (p 45).
From Chapter 3 Writing
When I am writing a book, I draft the preface first, as I did for this book, because it compels me to
articulate the book's purpose, identify the intended audience(s), describe the content, and outline how
the book is organized (p 78).
Because true personal stories combine facts and feelings-speak to head and heart-they tend to
attract curious readers who then typically understand and often remember the story's messages.
Notice that we are discussing true, not hypothetical, stories. While a writer can use both types,
true personal stories have more credibility-favor them (p 82).
Years ago, while reading an article, I encountered a familiar paragraph-familiar because it
was taken word-for-word from an article I had written. Because of failure to acknowledge my
efforts, I contacted the author to explain my concern. He blamed his assistant. Frankly, I felt
violated. Using my intellectual and creative products without credit is like breaking into my
home and stealing my flat screen television. Theft is theft (p 85).
In the plant world, pruning means removing superfluous matter to encourage fruitful growth.
The same principle applies in effective writing. As you work through many draft and revision
cycles, prune superfluous words and make other changes so that your written document yields
fruitful results, that is, achieves your purpose. More bluntly, don't burden the readers with
excess growth (p 90).
From Chapter 4 Speaking
Practice Out Loud ."Out loud" means exactly that-stand up, if that is how you will finally
speak, imagine the audience in front of you, speak, gesture, advance your slides, display your
props, and manipulate white boards. If you have never used out-loud practice, it will seem
awkward the first few times. That discomfort will disappear when you experience the benefits
over a series of presentations (p 116).
Speak to the audience, not the screen, which typically puts your back to the audience . I have
seen too many speakers spend too much time looking at and talking to the screen and appearing
to ignore the audience. That is why I urge you to place the computer, used for any part of your
presentation, between you and the audience. Then you can look at and speak to the audience,
occasionally glancing at your slides on the monitor, while the audience sees the slides on the
screen (p 123).
From Chapter 5 Using Visuals
We use our five basic senses of vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch to gather and act on
information about the world around us. Vision is our most powerful sense because it uses more
of our brain than any other sense. Therefore, whenever you communicate, whether speaking or
writing to one person or a large audience, consider using visuals to engage more fully the brains
and hearts of the other person or audience members. They will be more likely to understand,
remember, and act on your messages (p 134).
. don't immediately assume the application of PowerPoint or other slideware. These visual
tools offer many attractive features, such as animation, but are used so frequently that they
sometimes evoke visual fatigue-"not another PowerPoint!"-instead of drawing the audience
to you and your topic. Consider other 2D options such as a newsprint pad, display boards, white
boards as in a classroom, or handouts (p 136).
Because vision dominates our senses, enhanced visual abilities enable engineers to be more
effective. By doing-not just studying-visual arts, such as drawing, painting, sculpture, or
photography, we enhance our observational capabilities. We see what others don't see which
enables us to define more thoroughly issues, problems, and opportunities and more creatively
resolve or pursue them. Doing visual arts also enables engineers to compose, that is, arrange
ideas, principles, options, and objects for enhanced communication (p 157).
Closure
Based on the preceding quotes, might this book be an appropriate text for one or more of your
classes -- or an effective reference book for some of your practitioner colleagues?
For additional information about The Communicative Engineer, and/or to purchase it, click here:
If you have questions or suggestions, please contact the author at 219-242-1704 or stu-
walesh@comcast.net.
Learn More About Stu Walesh | Clients Served | Testimonials & Reviews
Managing and Leading Books | Tailored Education & Training
Home | Legal Notice | Privacy Statement | Site Map
Copyright © Stuart G. Walesh Ph.D. P.E. Dist.M.ASCE
Web Site Design, Hosting & Maintenance By Catalyst Marketing / Worryfree Websites |
